Heading north for a visit!

D-Day Thats right its driving day and its today! After I get some sleep that is! Right now its just after midnight! But I can wait no longer to come north for a visit! This is a short post just to let you know my plans! (those of you that it makes a difference to!) Because there are a lot of you that I would like to see when I get there! Give me a call starting Monday if you want a visit and I will be around for a few days! I love you guys! You know who you are! Jon (509)264-3065

Sweet Ground Chocolate!

Anyone that knows me knows that I am a chocoholic and coffee snob! And anyone reading this knows now! I ran out of Guittard's Sweet Ground Chocolate within two weeks of getting to Arizona! So the search was started just before then to find another source of the fine ambrosia for my home made mocha's! I found three places that even dealt with Guittards! And only one place sounded accommodating to my need to buy a supply of the perfect powder for my coffee! That place is Cerreta's Candy company in Glendale AZ! Tony,(pictured above) was and is my connection here in Arizona for the powder I have become addicted to! Chocolate addictions are not illegal in this state as far as I know! I could go on to tell you that this chocolate has to be kept at between 60 and 70 degrees for it to stay good! , and it takes a special truck to ship it from San Francisco to the Phoenix area in the summer, but that would be just too much to read! Oooops! Well a perfect mocha has its price and it is worth the effort to make one! My opinion! And as a bonus, they make wonderful chocolate candy in many of my favorite combinations there at Cerretas! So I bought five pounds of their creations to bring me out of the depression that sometimes plagues me down here! Thank you God for chocolate! And thanks Mom for eating so much chocolate when you were pregnant with me! I have never complained about being a fetal-chocoholic syndrome baby! I consider it a privilege! Bye! Jon

Monsoon season still on!

Arizona monsoon season is altogether spectacular at times! The clouds build all day into magnificent thunderheads that some evenings grow fangs and claws and they move closer to the ground and start flashing brilliant arcs of light through their dark lofty beings! Then the wind seems to pick up sometimes all at once in a massive dust cloud that looks like a moving wall! Then the wind gets moving and the thunder and lightning get closer and the show really begins!

At times the rain just isn't in all the monsoon where you are at, dry monsoon? But most of the time the rain will start in and dump in a torrent like the sky just flushed! Either way it lends for a spectacular show! Tonight it just ended in a beautiful sunset! Such beauty in life! Jon

Toyota T-100

Hello once again! I thought I should put in a pic of the new to me truck that I bought!

So here it is! Not too bad for a 93 T-100! One thing I didn't know was that in Arizona you don't

give up your license plate when you sell your vehicle! So I found this out after I bought this truck! I had to go down to the nearest Library and go online to the MVD of Arizona and pay money for a 3 day pass and print it out and put it on the window for the police to see! So I did!

Then I found out that the truck had a locking gas cap and no key! I called the guy back and asked and he had thrown them away a week earlier not remembering that they went to anything! So I used my leatherman and made short work of the cap and filled the tank! It drove home without a glitch! So it stayed parked there until today when I went to get it changed into my name and plated! That is when I found out it needed to go through emissions! A first for me! So I found out where the place was and got in line. 30 minutes later my truck was being tested! After the test and paying $27.75 they told me it FAILED! So I had to park it and go inside to talk to their personnel ! It was nerve racking but I went she told me it was the carbon filter system and we went out for her to show me! It ended up being a hose unconnected and I

plugged it back in and got back in line! This time after another 30 minute wait it passed! And

I was off to the license place! Got my plate and title and I am legal to drive the truck now! Jon

Hello once again! Maricopa is fast becoming the place that I will call home! The house you see in the pictures is a house that my offer was accepted on, and if its inspection is good then I will most likely be buying it! It is 3 years old and has 3 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths, 1884 sq/ft and is in great shape! The best part is I offered 4 thousand less than the asking price and they took it! Can you believe $68,000.00! ?

You couldn't even buy the lot that its built on for that price in Wenatchee! Wednesday is the inspection day and I plan to be there to bug the inspector in a non-bugging sort of way! I am paying for the inspection after all!Today I bought a 93 Toyota T-100 in preparation for moving in furniture and the three appliances that I still need to get! And the landscaping will need to be done this winter! If not this house!Peace! Jon

Hello after the long pause in my blog! I hope you haven't been as bored as I have been! House shopping can take a lot longer than I was expecting! What a process! You never know how many offers a bank is going to take on a house or how long it will take them to decide who gets it!?????? Personally I am not amused! On a more perfect note, I found a really cool coffee place while I was searching for my Torani syrup! It as you can see is called "Xtreme Bean" coffee company! It used to be a bank! Now it is a quite popular espresso place with free wifi and plenty of tables! One big difference from Starbucks is the padded seats! (sorry Howard your seats are hard on the boney butts of some of us!) The vault is even a quiet room for study! What a concept and good use for the banks that go under due to mismanagement! The coffee was not as good as Starbucks ( My opinion! Go Howard!) But the music was 3 notches better! (get a clue Mr.Schultz!) Nothing wrong with Starbucks and their wonderful employees! I love you guys and gals!! Keep it extra hot! Jon

Maricopa! Home?

Well it has been awhile since I updated this Blog! I was sick for almost a week with a stomach/abdominal pain? It was bad enough to send me to the ER for a check on my condition!

Since then I have test driven two T-100s and purchased 1 & 1/2 drum kits! Yes I found one that was beautiful maple shells in a high quality Pearl Session Custom! Only half there! Good deal anyway so I bit! (bought) Then a day later a guy called me back that I had left a message with on his drum kit! It was a Tama w/cymbals etc. It sounded like one of those too good to be true deals! But I kept in touch with him and 2 days later I found him and here is a beautiful gun metal gray set of drums that looked almost new! And with out any hesitation I payed the man and loaded the set in my car! The cymbals were worth what he charged me for the set! I was blessed! But thats not what I came to report on!

Yesterday I received the equity in the last house I co-owned and yesterday a home came on the market that is the best deal I have seen so far! Its 3 years old, 2 story, 2849 sq/ft. 2 car garage, Swimming pool, 5 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths and even the carpeting is beautiful! All for 80,655.00. So as you might guess I was up early and so was my agent! I got my qualifying paperwork, we went and looked at the house! We went back to his office and I put in my first offer! I won't post pictures unless my offer is accepted! Email me if you want the link to the property! Even my agent said it should be priced at 20,000 or more than it is! I have to agree so I hope its not a typo!

Also I have met more local talent at the Tempe Marketplace once again! Her name is Jeordie! I did meet her band last night at a local bar(they are great musical talents too) and I will probably go see them play on the main stage at the Marketplace on Saturday coming up too! Nice people! Cool music! Just what I like to find! What will I find tomorrow? Stay tuned.....Jon